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May 05, 2017An attempt to reclaim the selfie
I don’t hate writing. Except sometimes I get so sick of it that I need an antidote. My brain has a hard time shutting off so meditating rarely works and I’m not very sporty, plus this antidote needs ...
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May 15, 2017
Monopoly on memory
Recently on Instagram, I saw a picture of Warszawa Centralna railway station and I was overcome by the smell and the sound the picture evoked. It smelled of damp concrete, earth, dirt and engine oil, ...
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March 31, 2019Writer at Work: Criticism is Care
When I began the “Writer at Work” series for Open Book, I wanted to explore what it means for me, a poet and a writer, to be at “work.” As a woman of colour and an emerging writer, I have many ...
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August 31, 2020How to Be Exceptionally Editable
When I first started writing children’s books, I possessed the strength and virility of a thousand strong and virile men. I believed in my ideas and held fast to them. While I was open to the editorial ...
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January 22, 2021Claiming Space for Indigenous Languages in English Literature
English is the language of the colonizer. It came with the arrival of settlers to what many people call Turtle Island, or North America. It is a relatively new language to this land, and has only been ...
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October 19, 2022Sid Sharp's Graphic Novel The Wolf Suit is a Gloriously Dark Modern Fairytale about Deceptive Appearances & Community Connection
We've all heard the term "wolf in sheep's clothing", but what about the opposite? Award winning Toronto artist and writer Sid Sharp's funny, deliciously dark, and gently thoughtful graphic novel The ...
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July 20, 2023Read an Excerpt from When It All Syncs Up, Maya Ameyaw's Tale of a Dazzling Black Teen Ballerina
In Maya Ameyaw's new young adult novel, When It All Syncs Up (Annick Press), Aisha seems to have everything going for her. She has a coveted spot in an elite ballet academy, a relentless work ethic, ...
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April 03, 2025How to Avoid Blank Page Syndrome: The Jar Method
When I’m editing, there are specific problems to tackle, and I find I have a clear to-do list. Even if there’s a lot to do, I have a road map, but at the beginning of a project, I get so easily daunted ...
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April 30, 2025The Joys of Rereading
Like any other avid reader, my TBR pile can feel out of control most of the time. For me, it’s partly because I’m a mood reader with an aversion to to-do lists of any kind, but it’s also because ...
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July 31, 2025How to Give Useful Writing Feedback
Many writers have friends who are also writers, and sometimes those friends ask us to give feedback on their work. Yay! We get to help our friends succeed! However, there can also be anxiety behind it. ...
